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Full House: Dad is SO rude!
Article from Full House, 11 February 2010
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The Argus: Author Russell the man with a list for every occasion
Article from The Argus, 24 December 2009
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Amazon Author’s Choice
I now have a list of some of my favourite books on Amazon.co.uk
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The Independent, ‘The Art of the Chart’
A recent news article in The Independent.
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The Huffington Post: The Top 10 Types Of Terrible Names
Article from The Huffington Post, 9 November 2009
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University Challenge: The Professionals
A bizarre experience if ever there was one, I found myself ‘volunteered’ to join the Society of Authors team, which comprised (left to right) me, Katie Fforde, Antony Beevor (captain) and Anna Claybourne. Our round was broadcast on BBC2 on 7 April 2008 (the final score was only a few more than is shown on the scoreboard). |
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Wikipedia
Over the past few years, various unknown contributors have submitted Wikipedia articles about me and my books. With some reservations, I am a fan of Wikipedia, but it’s not until you read a subject about which you are as intimately involved as your own biography that you realize just how riddled with errors an entry can be. I have taken the opportunity to correct those in which I appear, and to begin to add some new articles, such as one on my ancestor Claudius Ash, the pioneer dental manufacturer. In the course of this, I was amused to discover Jade Goody listed among the ‘Distinguished Alumni’ of my college. She was speedily removed as an example of vandalism – which at least indicates that the self-governing nature of Wikipedia operates effectively. They are pretty good at jumping on this sort of thing: on 7 April 2008, some clown replaced the entire content of the article on Newspapers with the single word ‘poo’. It lasted a matter of minutes before the original was reinstated. |
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Silly Names
I have added a ‘Silly Names’ section, starting with the celebrated Cornwall Silly Names list compiled by former Cornwall Record Office archivist Renée Jackaman and her colleagues. As this is no longer available on the CRO site, I am privileged to be able to present it here. In due course I shall be expanding the range of names – and always welcome submissions, the sillier the better... |
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In Flanders Fields
I have recently returned from a visit to Ypres and Passchendaele, touring First World War battlefield sites and cemeteries with my younger son. We found a family member, Lieutenant Wilfred John Ash of the 3rd Battalion of the Middlesex Regiment, commemorated on the Menin Gate in Ypres. He was killed, aged 24, on 16 February 1915 and has no known grave. The In Flanders Fields Museum in Ypres currently has a wonderful exhibition, Man Culture War, that shows the extent to which it was truly a ‘world’ war, with displays relating to every country’s contribution. Among the many cemeteries, all superbly maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Tyne Cot, the largest in the world, is unmissable, but Bedford House, just south of Ypres, is one of the most beautifully laid out. There, as in several others, we found ourselves the only visitors. |
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